Great Power Competition
Great Power Competition
“Today we are announcing 24 key decisions the Department of the Air Force is making to be more competitive in an era of Great Power Competition. We are moving forward with a sense of urgency to ensure we are ready to deter, and if necessary, win. We are out of time.” – Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall
Consolidate force development functions under an expanded Airman Development Command to provide Airmen a common, mission-focused development and training path.
Expand technical tracks for officers and create technical tracks for enlisted Airmen; reintroduce warrant officers in IT and Cyber fields to maintain technical leadership in these highly perishable skills.
Develop “Mission Ready Airmen” with training focused on a mix of skills needed for wartime operational mission readiness.
Continue to transform leadership development and training at USAFA, OTS and ROTC to prepare new officers to effectively lead Airmen and Guardians in the context of Great Power Competition.
Reorient Air Combat Command to focus on generating and presenting ready forces to combatant commanders.
Implement large scale exercises and mission-focused training encompassing multiple OPLANS to demonstrate and rehearse for complex, large-scale military operations.
Incorporate no-notice/limited-notice operational readiness assessments and inspections in the Air Force and Space Force to reflect pacing challenge requirements.
Restructure key processes related to aviation spares and weapons systems to be data-driven and risk-informed to improve weapon systems health.
Structure Air Force Operational Wings as mission ready “units of action” categorized as Deployable Combat Wings, In-Place Combat Wings or Combat Generation Wings. Each will have its own structure, with a redesigned concept of support for ACE, to ensure the wings are prepared to execute their missions with assigned Airmen and units.
Establish the relationship between Combat Wings and Base Command. Combat Wings will focus on mission level warfighting readiness and Base Commands will focus on supporting Combat Wings and operating the base in competition, crisis and conflict.
Elevate AFCYBER to a standalone Service Component Command, reflecting the importance of the cyber mission to the Joint Force and across the Department of the Air Force.
Create a Department of the Air Force Integrated Capabilities Office to lead capability development and resource prioritization to drive DAF modernization investments.
Combine disparate efforts to create the Office of Competitive Activities to oversee and coordinate sensitive activities.
Create a Program Assessment and Evaluation Office to establish structure and incorporate a more analytically based approach to resourcing decisions.
Establish Integrated Capabilities Command to develop competitive operational concepts, integrated requirements, and prioritized modernization plans to align with force design.
Create a new Information Dominance Systems Center within AFMC to strengthen and elevate the Air Force’s focus on Command, Control, Communications, and Battle Management; Cyber; Electronic Warfare; Information Systems; and Enterprise Digital Infrastructure.
Strengthen the support to nuclear forces by expanding the Nuclear Weapons Center to become the Air Force Nuclear Systems Center within AFMC. This will provide comprehensive materiel support to the nuclear enterprise; establish a 2-star General Officer as the Program Executive Officer for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles.
Refocus the Life Cycle Management Center within AFMC as the Air Dominance Systems Center to synchronize aircraft and weapons competitive development and product support.
Establish an Integrated Development Office within AFMC to provide technology assessments and roadmaps. It will drive alignment and integration of mission systems across centers and provide technical expertise to assess operational concept feasibility
Papers on GPC
Video on GPC